SAP Note 13142 - Defining additional storage areas under INFORMIX

Symptom:

The following SQL error appears in the R/3 message log: -131 ISAM error: no free disk space. or
-271 Could not insert new row into the table.

OR

ABAP Reports terminate with SQL error: -131 ISAM error: no free disk space. or
-271 Could not insert new row into the table

CAUTION!
Error -271 can also have other causes. In this case it is essential that you first check the prerequisites as described below, before you attempt a solution.

Additional key words

INF131, INF271, dbspace, chunk, onspaces, full, extend, disk space

Cause and prerequisites

The storage space used by Informix on the disk is full. Informix stores the data in DBSpaces comprising individual chunks. When one of these DBSpaces is full, the problem described above occurs and the memory area of the database has to be extended. This is done by adding further chunks to the particular DBSpace.
UNIX:
Chunks are stored in raw devices in the R/3 environment. These are areas of the disk which are not managed by the operating system.
Windows NT:
Chunks are stored by Windows NT in files. The file name (and thus the chuck name) is made up of the DBSpace name and a running number as the file extension.

There are two ways in which you can determine whether a DBSpace is full:

• With sapdba if you have an R/3 Version which supports sapdba. This is the case as of Version 2.2G. Start sapdba and call the menu options 'Dbspace Extension ...', and then 'Analyze Dbspace Reports ...' and finally 'List Dbspace Information'. Column 'Free' now shows how much space is still available in this DBSpace. If this value is very small, you will have to extend your database.

• With CCMS: Start Transaction db02 and press 'Current sizes'. A list appears on the screen. Column free again tells you how much space is still free in this DBSpace.

If there are no small values in column 'Free' and if the message log contains error -271, you do not have a space problem and therefore this is not the correct Note.

Solution

Unix:
Before you can provide further memory are for the database, you have to make sure that you still have raw device space. This is very simple using SAPDBA. Go to the menu 'Analyze Dbspace Reports' as described above. Choose the menu option 'List Device Information'. After a short time, a list is displayed which tells you which raw device your chunks are on. Areas of the raw devices which are still free have the value GAP in the column dbsname. These are exactly the areas which you are looking for.
If your search was unsuccessful or if you do not have SAPDBA, contact your system administrator. When you create new raw devices, make sure that they belong to user Informix and group Informix and that both the user and the group have write and read permission. You can do so with the following commands: su root
chown informix
chgrp informix
chmod 660
where you have to define the path of your raw device for .

Windows NT:
Before you can make available additional memory are for the database you must ensure that there is enough disk space available on the proper hard drive. Go once again to the Menu 'Anaylze Dbspace Reports' as described above. This time, however, choose the option 'List Device Information'. After a short time, a list of all the NTFS-formatted drives with the space still available will appear on the screen. You can create the additional chunks on the drives that will have been displayed.

To create new chunks, proceed as follows:

• If you have an R/3 Version which supports SAPDBA, we urgently recommend that you use SAPDBA to extend your storage space since SAPDBA simplifies this procedure considerably. As of Version 2.2G, SAPDBA is delivered with R/3. In this case, proceed as described in the manual 'BC SAP Database Administration: INFORMIX Version x.x' Chapter 'Storage Space Management'.

• If SAPDBA was not yet delivered with your R/3 Version, you can load a copy of SAPDBA from the host sapserv3. Proceed as described in Note 38401.

• If your R/3 Version does not include SAPDBA and you do not have access to the SAP host sapserv3, you have to use the Informix tools to create chunks. Use either the command onspaces or the program onmonitor. These are described in detail in the Informix manuals 'OnLine Dynamic Server Administrator's Guide Vol 1+2'. Make sure that the maximum size of a raw device does not exceed 2 GB. The sum of 'offset' and 'size' of a chunk may not be larger than 2 GB for this reason.